Zhu Youzhen thought about it for a while, and then said: "I want to open a regular flight from Tianjin to Goa, but my ships and sailors are not familiar with this route, and after passing Malacca, there is also a lack of familiar supply ports in the Indian Ocean.

So I hope you can recruit for me, a few ships that are familiar with this route, a few captains, sailors, etc., what do you think of this condition? ”

It was as if his throat had been choked, and he couldn't say anything in approval. Compared with the leakage of nautical charts that harmed the interests of the entire kingdom, this regular flight from Tianjin to Goa could directly damage the immediate interests of him, the commander of the Sino-Japanese trade fleet.

With China's current navigation technology, it will take at least 20 to 30 years to develop to the point where it can explore new shipping routes. In other words, it is impossible to verify the nautical charts provided by him in a short time.

And in such a long time, he estimated that he would have returned to his hometown to establish a glass mirror workshop, and there was no need to go to sea to the East to adventure. At that time, even if there was a slight problem on the chart, the Chinese emperor would not be able to ask him for his guilt.

But the establishment of a regular flight from Tientsin to Goa was tantamount to an immediate trade competition with his fleet.

In fact, he also benefited a lot from his conversation with Zhu Youzhen. For example, it was the first time he learned that Japan's population is around 20 million, which is almost 10 times the population of Portugal.

And Chongzhen's theory of the relationship between the sales market and the size of the population also gave him a lot of shock.

As an experienced trader, Samento could feel that the continuous expansion of the size of the trading fleet did not lead to an infinite increase in profits.

Conversely, as the size of the trading fleet grew, costs rose much faster than profits grew. And because of the increase in trade volume, the time for sales has been extended.

Now it seems that the size of the trade fleet cannot be expanded indefinitely, but it does have to do with the size of the population of each region, which the emperor called the affordability of the market.

Therefore, Portugal, with a population of less than 2 million, could not compete with the United Kingdom and the Netherlands, which had a larger population, so it continued to fall behind in Asia-Europe trade.

According to this theory, the Chinese emperor was right when he said that blindly trading in raw silk, silk, gold, ivory and other luxury goods, although he could still make super profits now, but under the competition of the Dutch, Spaniards and even the British, the future of the trading fleet would be bleak.

Indeed, the trading fleet should try to expand into other goods that are more common and have a larger audience, so as to avoid the threat of the Dutch, who are increasingly powerful in Asia.

Samento thought for a long time, and finally spoke: "Your Majesty's conditions are not very high, but in this regard, I can't do anything.

Our country is a small country, with a small population, and even fewer captains and sailors who are skilled at sea.

In particular, there are even fewer crew members and captains who are willing to risk their lives to sail to India and China, and there may be a few captains who are familiar with Goa to China, but there are really not enough crews who are familiar with this route. ”

Zhu Youzhen became a little curious, he originally didn't plan to recruit all Portuguese and Southeast Asian sailors, but just wanted to use this regular flight to train Daming's own sailors and captains.

Before he could speak, though, Sarmento was the first to mention the shortage of manpower, which surprised him a little.

So he asked suspiciously: "Portugal and Spain are said to be the first two countries to open new sea routes, and the names of Vasco da Gama and Magellan have even been heard of by me. Why do you say that you can't recruit people, is it because you are deliberately perfunctory? ”

Hearing the two names in Chongzhen's mouth and the suspicious look in his eyes, Samento had to spit out a little bit about the current situation of Portugal's decline.

Since opening a new route to the East, the Portuguese have gone from a small barren European country with a population of more than a million to the hegemon of the Indian Ocean, thanks to their monopoly on the spice trade.

Gold from Guinea, sugar and wine from the Azores and Madeira, timber and plantations from the Brazilian colonies, and the slave trade in Africa, combined with a steady stream of trade profits from India, China, and the islands of Southeast Asia, made Portugal the richest country in Europe overnight.

However, this wealth did not change the backward appearance of the densely populated and narrow Portuguese kingdom, but destroyed the original hard-working nature of the Portuguese.

The upper nobility of the kingdom quickly corrupted, for example, the king's court attendants, which originally consisted of 200 people, but by the middle of the century had expanded to more than 4,000.

The most surprising thing is that with the corruption of the upper nobility and the rise of the slave trade, a culture of great contempt for labor has developed in the kingdom. Most of the arable land in the Kingdom of Portugal was now cultivated by black slaves from Africa, but thousands of people flocked to Lisbon every year in the hope of becoming servants of a nobleman.

These people would rather wander the streets of Lisbon than learn a little bit of a trade, because they believe that only those who do not have the backstage and the ability to work to support themselves.

On the Lisbon to China route, on average, only half of the ships have a chance of returning, and those Portuguese sailors prefer to sail to Lisbon, the Azores, the Caribbean, and South America and Brazil.

As a result, the Kingdom of Portugal, which had monopolized the Indian Ocean, was now in a situation where it was unable to even have a single trading fleet of native sailors, and had to hire sailors from India and Southeast Asia.

Regarding the decline of the Portuguese, Zhu Youzhen only sighed for a moment, then turned back to the topic and said: "If you can recruit a few captains and experienced sailors for me, as well as shipbuilders, I can consider letting you open a merchant house in Tianjin."

You should know that if you can own a business hall in Tianjin, you don't have to suffer from the price reduction of those merchants because of the rush to ship. That's a lot of interest for you. ”

The temptation given by Chongzhen immediately moved Samento, and he thought about it again and again before he cautiously replied: "I want to ask Your Majesty a few questions, how do you plan to set up this scheduled flight?" Would you like us to invest in this route? ”

Zhu Youzhen smiled and said: "At the beginning, the journey from Goa to Tianjin took about two and a half months, so I hope that there will be four boats at the beginning, and Tianjin and Goa will run in pairs, with one flight every two months.

I don't mind if you invest in this regular route, but you can't have more than 49 shares. Do you have more questions? ”

Tempted to establish a trading house, Sarmento finally agreed to find a few captains and some skilled sailors for Chongzhen, and he also intended to invest 30 percent of the shares in the regular route.

After solving the first condition proposed by Chongzhen, Sarmento immediately asked with anticrative expectation what the next condition was.

Zhu Youzhen thought about it for a while, and then said easily: "The second condition is relatively simple, as long as you can find 20 kinds of animals and plants that are not in the Ming Dynasty but have a certain value for me within 3 years."

Sarmento blinked his eyes and asked, "What is the standard of a certain value that Your Majesty said?"

Zhu Youzhen thought for a while and said, "I heard that there is a kind of sheep in Spain, the wool is fine and soft, which is very suitable for weaving cloth, and this is called valuable.

Of course, cotton, rubber, cocoa, coffee, sisal, African oil-producing plants, pasture grasses, etc., are all valuable animals and plants. ”

Listening to the name of the emperor in one go, he stammered with the interpreter next to him. Samento found that there were many plant terms that could not even be expressed in the Portuguese language, indicating that these plants and animals were not well known in their own country.

He subconsciously felt that perhaps these new plants he heard about today had a lot of value. He hesitated slightly, and then agreed to Chongzhen's request.

He decided in his heart that he wanted to ask some knowledgeable scholar about the names of these plants to see what secrets were buried in them.

When he was busy agreeing to Chongzhen, he sighed slightly in his heart. The Kingdom of Portugal, which had led European countries to create new sea routes, is now in decline.

Even the Chinese in the East, who have always paid no attention to overseas affairs, are now paying attention to the flora and fauna found in the New World. But in their homeland, all new technologies and new scientific knowledge were branded heretics by the Inquisition, and everyone seemed to have returned to the dark ages of the Middle Ages.

Sammento's answer was very satisfying to Chongzhen, and he immediately said: "As long as you can complete these two things, then in 3 years you can get the technology of how to make glass mirrors."

"Three years from now?" Sarmento was a little disappointed, and although he knew that the emperor would not pay him in advance until it was done, he was still a little anxious.

Zhu Youzhen was silent for a while, and then continued: "Of course, I can also give you a suggestion that you can benefit immediately, you can invest in the construction of a glass mirror workshop now, but you can only enjoy dividends, and you are not allowed to participate in the operation."

After three years, you can sell the shares back to me, or take over the business as you wish, what do you think? ”

Sarmento is clearly more interested in the current proposal than in three years' time. He just thought for a moment, and then couldn't wait to say: "I am very willing to invest in such a glass workshop, I don't know how to invest in such a glass workshop?"

Zhu Youzhen thought about it for a while, and then said: "The workshop with a daily output of 30 kilograms of glass mirrors has an investment of about 10,000 taels; with a daily output of 150 kilograms, the investment is about 50,000 taels; With a daily output of 300 kilograms, the investment is 100,000 taels. ”

Without knowing the process of making a glass mirror, Sarmento simply could not compare whether the investment was high or low. However, he compared the price of Venetian mirrors a little, and thought that this price did not sound very expensive.

However, for the sake of safety, he still asked, "I don't know how many mirrors this mirror is in the Daming market?" ”

Zhu Youzhen paused before replying: "30 kilograms can make about 70 hand-held mirrors, and each hand-held mirror on the market is about 3 yuan."

Sarmento inquired and learned that the value of one dollar was about equal to one Spanish silver dollar, or eight riyals. The price of a hand mirror is equivalent to 24 riyals, which is equivalent to a month's salary of an ordinary mercenary.

"This price is nearly one-sixth cheaper than in Europe, these damn Venetian bandits should really let them fish for a lifetime." Sarmento silently cursed the Venetian in his heart, and then said with a smile on his face to Chongzhen: "I want to invest 50,000 taels..."